


Ceremonials

by organfailure



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Drabble, M/M, Relationship Study, Wedding Night, happy birthday Erwin, i mean you're not even really in this but happy birthday lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-07-14 17:52:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16045538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/organfailure/pseuds/organfailure
Summary: On the night of his wedding, Armin has a talk with Levi.





	Ceremonials

Armin knows there will be no flowers along the path he has chosen.

There will be no well-wishers or loved ones. No white veil and no white ribbons. No soft choir will herald his walk down the empty church aisle. He didn't arrive in a carriage pulled by a gray horse and festooned in florals; Instead, he entered the church under the cover of night, a dark cloak hiding his best clothes. 

It suits the soldier’s life he chose, Armin supposes, the life he chose when he stayed the night of his graduation. That night, he offered up his heart to humanity, knowing full well that he was signing his life away along with it. He would live a hard, solemn, likely short life for the sake of furthering humanity. It was the same path all of his comrades had chosen. The same path his fiancé had chosen.

The church is small, plain, and generally unassuming, tucked away on a small street near the edge of the capital. The bulk of the upper level administration of the Survey Corps is currently posted there for the tedious period of annual budget allotments and research negotiations. Armin had been among the staff selected to be present at the meetings. It was an opportunity they likely won't receive again.

Armin slips silently into the old building, a sparsely decorated foyer and a simple wooden door all that separates him from his future. A lone figure waits by the door, a stoic guard protecting their charge.

A witness was required for the ceremony to have any weight. Even if it was to remain hidden, legitimacy was still a necessity. Armin had agreed that Levi was the only viable option.

He stands in his civilian clothes, dark jacket and dark trousers and his ever-present cravat. His hair, always combed so neatly, had been pushed back for the occasion. Unlike Armin, Levi likely owns a far nicer set of clothes, but it would have been too risky to show up in the middle of the night in such finery. And anyways, perhaps it would have been improper to be better dressed than one of the grooms. The soft, cream colored button down and dark brown trousers Armin currently wore were simple by anyone's standards, though certainly the nicest things he owned, with the exception of the ring waiting for him in the next room.

Levi is as dedicated to Erwin Smith as he is to the Survey Corps. Armin had known the others could have been trusted with their secret, Hanji and Mike as steadfast of friends with Erwin, but it seems fitting that it should be Levi to bear sole witness to their union. Levi's bond with Erwin is as strong as Armin’s, on some levels perhaps even stronger. In all matters military and personal, Levi is the one Erwin trusted above all. Armin understands why, and though Levi had once greatly intimidated him (And still did, to a certain extent), Armin knows no one would more readily protect their secret. The others respect Erwin. Levi would travel to the ends of the earth and face down the gates of Hell for Erwin. Any sacrifice, any trial, anything needed to protect Erwin and his dream, Levi would suffer and carry out. Armin understands that feeling better than anyone. He also understands that through this marriage, Levi’s loyalty would extend to him as well.

Marriage. Not a foreign concept, but the idea of it settles strangely in Armin’s head. He is still so young, barely nineteen, but he had known people to be married at his age, or even younger. It had seemed an unobtainable thing to him until a few months ago. He wondered what his parents would have thought, what Eren and Mikasa and his other dear friends would think. He longs to be able to tell them, but knows he cannot. 

Oddly enough, the faces of Eren’s parents stand out in his memory. Grisha Jaeger, that man that had been present throughout most of Armin’s childhood but always so distant, what would he have thought? As the years went by, Armin was never quite sure how to regard Grisha in his memory. He was more certain in his love for Carla, a woman whose kindness and understanding had been there for him throughout his upbringing as constantly as his own mother’s. He wondered if she would approve of him, though he supposed it didn't much matter if anyone at all approved at this point.

“Armin? You in there?”

Armin is removed from his contemplation as he realizes Levi is speaking to him, a cool, inquisitive expression across his features.

“Sorry. Just...thinking.”

“You do that a lot.”

“Guess so.” Armin laughs nervously, hand coming up to card through his hair.

“You're not getting cold feet, are you? ‘Cause we're all risking a lot to be here for you to decide last minute you don't-”

“I do. I'm not getting cold feet. I promise.” Armin says resolutely. It is indeed too late for him to back out, even if he wants to. Levi stares at him for a moment before he seems to accept this answer.

“Is...Is he waiting for me?”

“He's speaking to the priest right now.” Levi takes a step towards Armin, his steely eyes staring intently into Armin's. “And I need to speak with you.”

Armin nods, though he feels like he can barely breathe past the lump that has formed in his throat. He begins removing the cloak he had donned, though not entirely sure where to put it before Levi takes it from him, draping it across the back of a nearby chair.

“You're aware of the weight of what you're about to do.”

Armin nods again. Even if the concept seems far away now, he fully understands the consequences of his choice when he had agreed to it. That weight is settling deep in his chest, threatening to pull him down with it. 

“I won't insult your intelligence by presuming you don't. This way of life…”

Levi takes a pause, and Armin sees him sigh deeply as he collects his thoughts, a rare moment of something approaching vulnerability for the intimidating captain.

“It's hard, for anyone. And the higher up you get, the harder it becomes. You know that as well as I do.”

Armin did. As you climbed the ranks of the Survey Corps, the weight of your actions and responsibilities grew and grew before you eventually were killed or it suffocated you. It is a strange curse. Erwin had the heaviest burden of all, and sometimes, late at night, when they were alone, Armin caught a glimpse of what that burden did to a person.

“After tonight, you are going to be the one that helps him. Stays with him through everything, no matter what. The person he can trust and depend on above all else. You know it's not going to be easy.”

As he speaks, Armin knows Levi is familiar with the burden he spoke of. For so long, Levi had been the one to stay with Erwin through everything, Levi had been the one Erwin trusted above all else. By doing this, Armin lessens Levi’s burden as he increases his own. Levi will always have a relationship with Erwin that would be unique to them, but in the moment, Armin feels a unique bond between Levi and himself as well. They both know what it means to be tied to the man who carried that heavy burden. Perhaps, Armin hopes, by attempting to ease Erwin's hardships, he and Levi could ease each other's. This night is the mark of a new relationship between him and Erwin, but it is also the mark of a new relationship between him and Levi.

“I’ll always be there for him.”

Armin isn't saying anything Levi doesn't already know, but it is important that he says it anyways. 

“He loves you, you know.”

The laugh Armin gives is short and breathless. Of course he knows Erwin loves him. When Erwin attached himself to something, he did so with no small amount of dedication. The Survey Corps. Humanity. Now, Armin. When Erwin devoted himself, he devoted his whole self. 

“I'm aware.”

“And...I know that you…”

“Like no other.”

Armin says it like a declaration, like it will be enough to assure Levi of what he already knows. The pair stands there in the dark foyer for another minute, regarding each other and the unspoken bond they'll soon share.

“I'm ready.” Armin says after a minute, and Levi nods slowly, turning towards the door before he pauses. Armin looks back at him, confused.

“Before you go in there...do you mind if I ask why?”

Armin cocks his head.

“Why did he ask me, or why did I say yes?”

“What did he say before he asked? I know that he loves you, but I also know that can't be all.”

Levi’s right, and Armin would have been impressed if it had been anyone else. From Levi, he expected nothing less.

“He said he wanted proof that it wasn't all in vain. That we had something that lasted even after we were gone.”

Levi seems to absorb this information before offering his arm to Armin, who gingerly takes it. It is to be Levi, the strange, cold, frightening Squad Leader, that would walk Armin towards the altar in place of his father. 

“Make him happy.”

It's a simple request, one Armin would have carried out without even trying, but he nods solemnly as though he has just been issued the most sacred of orders. He has every intention of making Erwin happy, to whatever extent he can, however long he'll be able to, so long as they both are living.

“I'll do my best.”

Levi presses his palm against the old wood door and swings it open, and without a shred of hesitation, Armin steps forward.

**Author's Note:**

> something random i wrote on a whim while at work, loosely based on a dream. this was mostly just me thinking about what a wedding in the aot universe would look like. if the tenses are kinda fucked up, it's because i decided to be ~experimental~ and i'm not really sure at all what i'm doing (: either way, happy birthday commander handsome <33
> 
> i spent almost no time on this but it would still mean a lot if you left a comment or kudos if you enjoyed! <3


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